USG Ishimura
The USG Ishimura was first of the massive planet cracker ships, and was named after astrophysicist Hideki Ishimura (inventor of the shockpoint drive, a form of FTL travel). Built 62 years before the beginning of the Dead Space narrative, the Ishimura has had a long and storied career under the ownership of the Concordance Extraction Corporation. The Ishimura was the first vessel of her size to utilize the shockpoint drive for large-scale, commercial, and deep space expeditions. Its total crew complement is 1,187, consisting of miners, scientists, engineers, security personnel, medical staff, flight crew, and officers. It is not known how the children of the crew factor into this number, but if they were counted, the total number of people on the ship would presumably be closer to 1250. At the time of her inception, the Ishimura was hailed as the savior of Earth and the colonies and the symbol of Mankind's innovation. She was created to mine and smelt entire planets and moons. She was also the first ship capable of the "scan and catch technique" for harvesting mineral-rich asteroids using huge gravity tethers. The Ishimura can lock onto asteroids and pull them inside the ships massive collection bays for smelting. Despite being designed primarily as a mining vessel, the Ishimura also functioned as a medical research vessel. It had a dedicated medical wing, where research into virology, toxins and genetics was conducted. Even at 62 years old, the Ishimura was still in remarkable shape. Much of the equipment had been upgraded over the years with many sections refitted to take advantage of modern advances in technology. Despite the long years of service, she was the pride of the fleet and remained the largest planet cracker in the fleet. Whenever a deep space mining project came up and the Ishimura was available, she was the first to be called. Ishimura means "Rock Village" in Japanese. Its name and the presence of Japanese markings throughout the ship, especially on the ship logo, suggest the Ishimura is a Japanese built ship. The USG prefix and what it stands for is not explained, however when Kendra calls it "Ishimura" Hammond is quick to correct her by saying "the USG Ishimura" and putting emphasis on the G. This likely means that the US part stands for United States (or something similar), but the G is still an unknown. Prior to 'Dead Space' The events leading to the Dead Space game are displayed in the Dead Space prequel comic series, the animated movie 'Dead Space:Downfall' and www.NoKnownSurvivors.com. The USG Ishimura is the setting of the game Dead Space. It is a "planet-cracker" class mining ship; the first and largest of its kind. Prior to the events of the Dead Space game, the Ishimura is called to assist in transporting a strange 'Marker', found on the surface of the Aegis VII colony, back to Earth. Upon arriving at Aegis VII, Captain Matthius, the Ishimura's commanding officer and a devout Unitologist, orders that the 'Marker' and all prevalent data be removed to the ship. Once this has been accomplished, the crew of the Ishimura begin planet-crack operations; the cover put in place to hide any knowledge of the marker to those outside. Coinciding with the planet-crack, the Ishimura briefly loses all contact with the colony and, once contact has been re-established, the crew discover that the entire colony has been slaughtered. Further contact with one of the mining teams, who are themselves slaughtered during the brief communication, reveals nothing of the colonies fate. Ishimura Personnel Manifest The following statistics are found on the Interstellar Vessel Manifest Registration console in "Thirteen", the second half of No Known Survivors. It gives a good idea of the general occupational composition of the people onboard the Ishimura. *'Personnel:' 1,332 **'Crew:' 80 **'Service:' 145 **'Custodial:' 88 **'Clerical:' 65 **'Extension/Familial:' 208 **'Security:' 89 **'Colonial:' 307 **'Medical:' 69 **'Technical:' 177 **'Other:' 104 Ishimura Sections Bridge: The control room where the Ishimura is navigated and monitored. It consists of several sections: the Atrium, which is the bridge of the Ishimura, the Captain's Nest, which is Captain Mathius's personal observation area, Administration where the ship's section leaders work, and Communications/External Access, where the Comm Array is located. The various sections are serviced by elevators accessed from the Atrium. Escape pods are located outside the Captain's Nest, but all have been jettisoned save for one. Hydroponics: The Ishimura's internal farm which produces the food needed to feed the many workers aboard the ship as well as providing a sustainable production of oxygen. Hydroponics is typically maintained by horticulturalists such as Elizabeth Cross, who monitored the production levels of the food. The section came under trouble when the Leviathan grew into food storage and began polluting the air. A massive area, Hydroponics is divided into 2 primary sections: the multi-level Vegetation Growth Chambers and the centrally located cylindrical Food Storage chamber. Hydropnics spans the entire top portion of the Ishimura's two engine towers and is accessed by a tram elevator. Engineering Deck: The section of the Ishimura where various engineers worked. This area was responsible for ensuring the Ship's shockpoint drive and gravity centrifuge worked, as well as the nav rockets and lifting capacity was at 525 trillion kilograms. This area was noted for being very dangerous as only Class 5 Engineers were allowed entry. It is divided into 3 primary areas: Gravity Centrifuge Access, Fuel Storage and Engine Room. Tram System: Due to the Ishimura's size, a tram system has been built into the ship, allowing fast and easy access to each of the ships sections. However, the system is single rail, so blocked trams will prevent travel through the ship. The tram system is apparently the only way to access the various parts of the ship, as no auxiliary walkways or emergency trams are located on the ship. Escape Shuttles: Due to the Ishimura's task as a mining ship and its frequent danger, the ship was equipped with a large compliment of escape shuttles which could be used to evacuate the ship in an emergency. The escape shuttles count apparently numbers at 50, with a capacity of 24 each in order to accommodate the ship's complement of 1,187. However, when the Necromorph infection reaches the Ishimura, the entire complement is mysteriously jettisoned, with no one on board. By the time Isaac Clarke arrives, the only means of escaping the ship is a single damaged escape pod outside the bridge, which is promptly jettisoned by Hammond when a Necromorph is placed inside. The Ishimura also carried a small compliment of mining shuttles for transportation, but these were either destroyed or also remotely jettisoned by the time the Kellion arrives. Ore Storage: Directly below Hydroponics, this deck was where valuable ore extracted from operations on the Mining Deck was stored in large containment cylinders. In the game, it is the area the USM Valor crashes into, thus the entire deck is basically destroyed. The Ore Storage area is instead dominated by the wreck of the Valor. Decontamination Chamber: Not necessarily a section of the ship, Decontamination chambers can be found throughout the ship. Their purpose was to cleanse workers of any bacteria and small debris that could contaminate an important area. Every area on the Ishimura is equipped with sensors that detect contaminants, such as Necromorphs. When one or more of these is detected, the area is locked down until the threat is removed. This also serves as a game mechanic to ensure the player cannot simply run constantly from any and all threats - they must stand their ground. The USM Valor also has a similar system of containment. Medical: The Medical Deck of the Ishimura contains various facilities including: Zero-G Therapy, an Intensive Care Unit, Imaging and Diagnostics, Biolab, Cryo Lab, Chemical Lab, Morgue and also various research areas and offices of the scientists aboard the ship. The deck is serviced by two trams: one at the main entrance, and one at the Cryo Storage entrance. The Medical Deck is divided into three areas: Emergency Ward, Imaging and Diagnostics and the Research Wing. Dr. Kyne's office is located in the Research Wing's ground floor, while Dr. Mercer's is located in the Emergency Ward. Mining Deck: The heart of the Ishimura, this is where asteroids and planet fragments are broken apart and smelted for valuable minerals. A 4-level deck, it is by far the largest deck on the Ishimura. Asteroids are brought in via an entrance on the third level, and held in place by gravity tethers. Crew Deck: The residential areas of the ship's crew. A large relaxing area comprised mainly of sleeper bunks, the area also has a mess hall and a Zero-G basketball court. The Executive Lounge and Executive Quarters are located here, as is the Executive Shuttle. Computer Core: Although not seen in the game, and only briefly glimpsed in the movie, the Computer Core is presumably the central processing area for the Ishimura's databanks. It also allows for remote unlocking of blocked areas, remote disengaging of ship's engines and access to the ship's library. Kendra Daniels barricades herself here after she and Hammond are attacked by a Leaper. Flight Deck: Location of the main hangers where shuttles would enter and leave the Ishimura. Contains a fully equipped departure/arrival lounge and has access to the cargo bay allowing materials to be loaded into shuttles for transport. The Executive Shuttle Docking Bay connects to this, as well as the Cargo Bay. The Ishimura has multiple docking bays situated all over the ship for shuttles of various sizes, ranging from the massive main hangar bay where the Kellion crashes to smaller mining shuttle bays such as Docking Bay 17, where the Necromorph infection came onboard the Ishimura. Cinema: Although not seen in the game or movie itself, posters in the Mess Hall of the Crew Deck allude to a movie theater on board the Ishimura, intended to entertain off duty workers or their families. The Ishimura's Infection The Necromorph infection in confined to the colony, but we learn how the Necromorph infection reached the Ishimura in Dead Space: Downfall. A shuttle pilot and a crewmate were sent down from the Ishimura to investigate what has been happening to the colony (the pilot was also looking for his wife.) After landing, the pilot and crewmate split up (The movie suggests the crewmate was killed shortly after splitting up). The pilot found his wife, but she is in a demented state, and kills herself with a mining tool. Devastated and terrified, the pilot rushed back to the ship carrying his wife's corpse, and began to take off. However, right before the ship door closed, an Infector flew into the ship, which the pilot doesn't know. The pilot makes it up to the Ishimura while the infector infects his wife's corpse. The Ishimura denies his entry, and begins sealing all cargo bay doors. The pilot is killed by his reanimated wife just as he crash-lands on the Ishimura through Cargo Bay 17 which closes too late. The newly-reanimated couple and the Infector escape before the security team arrives to investigate the crash. The Infector makes it's way to the morgue, where it creates an army of Necromorphs. The crew was attacked by the creatures while on their daily routines. People are killed while on duty, while eating, showering, or entertaining themselves. There were only a few reported incidents at first, but with each new kill, another creature was born, and word of the danger quickly spread through the ship. Some men and women had jobs that they were forced to continue despite the obvious danger, in order to keep the ship stabilized, but these stalwart crew members obviously didn't last long, and the ship slowly began to malfunction from nobody monitoring it. It finally became obvious that the entire crew was in danger, as order around the ship vanished. Decks that the creatures didn't reach yet holed themselves off and made barricades to hold back the creatures when they came. Yet most of the decks were caught unprepared, with the crew running around everywhere, with the creatures killing them all until there was nobody left and the deck was left derelict. The Bridge, as well as the Medical and Mining decks reportedly held out the longest, with the Medical deck being completely overwhelmed with badly injured survivors, to the point where the medical staff barricaded the injured outside. The injured were killed by necromorphs, and the creatures eventually breached the barricades and slaughtered the remaining doctors, limb regeneration technicians, nurses, and other assorted medical staff. The mining deck is where wandering survivors gather, due to the necromorphs having a hard time breaching the steel doors, but they found a way in. The Bridge is the last deck to be overrun. The remaining bridge crew, security, and officers were eventually over run by necromorphs bursting through the ventilation shafts. To prevent news of the Marker from reaching Earth, Dr. Kyne launches the Ishimura's entire complement of escape pods, leaving the remaining crew trapped on board their own ship with no way out. As a last desperate resort, Dr. Kyne disengages the ships engines, causing the ship to begin a slow descent towards the planet in hopes that it will burn up in the atmosphere. P.C.S.I. Sec. officer Alissa Vincent intercepts him and tries to restabilize the ships engines in a bid to rescue the remaining survivors, but fails and instead sacrifices herself to launch a distress signal into space, as well as to suck out numerous Necromorphs. It is at this point that the USG Kellion shockpoints in, in response to the Ishimura's distress signal, beginning the events of Dead Space. Many of the areas of the ship are covered in necromorph biomass or otherwise damaged; resulting in failures in the ship's life support, automated systems, or artificial gravity. It becomes clear throughout the game that the Ishimura is beyond repair and is doomed. The ship is left derelict at the end of "Dead Space", when Isaac heads for Aegis VII in the Executive Shuttle. It is unknown what becomes of it after the mining colony is devastated by the asteroid. It is possible it fell into Aegis VII's gravity well and was destroyed, but there is also the possibility its fate will be explained in Dead Space 2. Category:Spaceships Category:Content